4-Team Practice

This weekend was one that was supposed to be quite interesting with the three teams from Saitama-ken and one from Yokohama getting together for a nice little bit of round robin play with full squads. What it turned into was another day of pain for this old football player and others. After a decent three series of playing, I ran through the block on the line, taking two more hits from two other players. The third guy hit me square in the sternum and managed to find the hole where no padding was with his helmet.

Obviously, this caused me to drop like a sack of wheat. One again I have managed to re-injure my ribs and sternum. I did that in 2000 and it took me six months to recover due to the fact that I never realized the 2nd rib was actually spraigned badly and needed to be pushed back into place. My chiropractor at that time solved the issue and within 1 month of him fixing it, I was back doing my usual training.

I am hoping that this time will be different since I know the issue. I will have x-rays taken tomorrow morning of the injury and hopefully will find that it is just a spraigned rib and not an actual cracked rib or sternum. I just know right now that I am in a good deal of pain and that it is no fun. All this just when I was finally getting to a point where I was starting to play decent football again and now I will have to take at least 3-4 weeks off minimum to let myself heal up.

Another Season, another injury

Or so the story seems to go. It is now my final season of football and I am just getting back to decent shape and suddenly I am injured again. My finger is now jammed and after x-rays, the doctor concluded that it is just bone contusions causing the pain. I would say that after the first physical therapy session that it s a lot more pain than actual problems. Lets just hope that two weeks will be enough to get back. But then again, maybe I wont be out there in two week.

I am hoping to be in Seattle sometime later this week and then will just have to find a team in the states to play for.

Recovery from Injuries

As I mentioned in my previous post, I injured my neck pretty badly. After 4 solid week of just absolutely putting myself through the recovery grind, I am finally starting to feel like a 1 April return to the practice field is well within grasp.

Of course, this has not come without a lot of training and and hard work. Yesterday was the perfect example of what I have been putting myself through to get back. Working out with my Japanese team, I have been putting in the time of training that they have been doing and then putting my poor linemen through the ringer working on strength items with me and then putting my quarterback through about 40 snaps after already doing 50-60 snaps earlier in practice. I guess he will be fine but by the end of practice, they were all looking a bit tired and I was still rearing to go in spite of the pain.

Today, I am feeling the football pains of a typical monday which is a good thing but I think I will go to the local onsen (hot springs) and see if I can get some R&R time in. I could definately use a good soaking on my sore leg muscles.

In the meantime, I am reading materials like a mad man trying to put together a defense for this up coming season for the team. Hopefully, my writing wont be so bad that the coach wont be able to read it but something has to be done. The team cant keep getting beat on simple misses.

Ouch!!!

Well, I have gone and done something that I am sure will not help my playing football. I managed to run into a concrete overhang that was just high enough to hit me avove the brim of my hat, forcing my head back and causing a bad case of whiplash. Since I did it in my normal, going somewhere, walking speed, the damage is pretty bad.

Now after a week of twice a day massages and aspirin and Bengay galore, I am still in pain. I am hoping this will clear up here soon but it is times like this when you realize just how fleeting our youth is.

At 43, I realize it even more and in spite of being in good shape and training hard, the simple things always seem to be the ones that give you the gold old 'gotcha' in life. But there is always Coaching if I can get up out of this bed here soon.

New Year Party

Well, I survived the bash that was the New Year Party for the football team. Between throwing guys around, doing speed pushups with our rookies, and drinking beer, I would say it was a successful night.

It has finally come to the end of the season with one more item to be performed. Photography of the championship. Yours truly will be on the scene next Sunday shooting and producing the DVD as usual. And while I am not exactly thrilled about not being there to play, it was a fun season and it is nice to finally play with a team that just wanted to play football.

Happy New Year 2008

Well, the time for the first post of 2008 has come. Not a lot happening right now except for the team's new years party. After a season in which we finished 3rd in our block, we did have a good end of season with the special games. Winning the final three games I played in Japan felt pretty good as well.

As I look forward to the 2008 season playing minor league football in the North American Football League (NAFL), I have begun to train. It will be quite different going against guys who are bigger, stronger and a lot faster than most of the ones here in Japan. My current plans are to play with the King Country Jaguars (www.kcjags.com), a team which has won the Northwest Football League (NWFL) the last three years and finished in the quarterfinals of the NAFL championships this year.

I am currently training every day here in Japan, running, lifting and stretching, preparing for what will be my last season. After a career spanning 20 years and 7 teams, I am looking forward to this last season. Look here for more posts in the coming months as I start upon this new adventure.

Last post for 2007 Season

It has come. The time to close out the 2007 season. And while it was not the most desirable season from the championship perspective, it did not end badly. I am healthy, 22 pounds lighter than when I started and feeling pretty good.

My ribs healed up pretty well, I had a minor ACL strain in my right knee a month ago and a slightly sprained right wrist at the end of the season. This is to match the two sets of bruises on my biceps from helmets I took in the arms. Not bad considering my age and the fact that I played like a mad man at the end.

I was finally able to get my pull speed up to the point where I was able to make good blocks on the sweeps and didn't have to rely on someone else to make the blocks for me. It was by all rights, a good hard season for which I am grateful. And while I am being grateful, I will take this time to wish all those who have followed my exploits this season, a very Merry Christmas and a joyous New Year.

And with this post I close out 2007 and look forward to 2008.

Two Games, Two Wins

A grueling day of football on any level. Not one game, but two were played. One might ask, why would anyone do that? Well, it is football after all.

In the first game, the East finally beat the West in the All Star game for the first time in 5 years. Fueled by the hard pressing running attack of the Outlaws and the Red Scorpions play style, the East was able to completely man handle the West for four quarters.

Elegant sweep blocking and quick draw plays made the offense go like a maelstrom. On a reverse, I made quick work of the defense on the running side of the play, blocking three defensive players allowing our running back to score from 25 yards out. The final score of the game was 19-0.

In the second game, the Gull Fighters took on the Dream Team. With both teams consisting mostly of older players well into their 40's and 50's, the play was both rough and unbridled. Many of these guys can still play but to the extent that the one game a year allows.

Of course, being in the same age range, means that I feel the pains like they do, except that of course, several of us who are still playing in the league are quite fit.

Our dream team ran out to a 19-0 lead at half with two flubbed point after attempts. It didnt get much better with the Gull fighters finally scoring four minutes into the fourth quarter. After they scored again three minutes later on an interception, we got serious again and scored a final touchdown making the score 25-12.

For those of you who have played the game, try this once. Play two games back to back (2 hour rest during stadium relocation) and then let me know how you feel. IT WAS A GOOD DAY FOR FOOTBALL!!!

Mid Week Reportt

I am happy to say that the season is finally winding down and that the winter recovery time will begin, although it will be likely short thanks to the fact that I am looking at a February start to my next season. For those of you who missed my games in Tokyo, you will find me Playing in Auburn Washington next season if I can manage to stay healthy. At this point, I am going to take a month or so to swim a bit and get myself up to spec to start lifting a bit again. But of course, that wont start until the end of this weekend's games:

2007 JPFF All Star Game
12/23 at 9:30 am
Kawasaki Satadium

2007 Old Boy Association Game
12/23 at 1pm
Yokohama Stadium

Between these two games, I will likely be absolutely exhausted and likely to take Christmas eve off to recover.

Outlaws Win 7-0

In a game which was played under cold windy conditions at Kawasaki Stadium, the Tokorozawa Outlaws powered to a final score of 7-0. The game was pretty much one sided for the first half, with Tokorozawa managing to keep the opponents bottled up in their side of the field until mid way through the second quarter. After giving up a long pass to put the All-Stars on the 35 yard line, the Outlaws defense once again got stingy stuffing the All-Stars at the line of scrimmage on two consecutive plays. With the all stars needing 8 yards for a first down, they went with a play instead of a field goal and wound up getting stuffed once again.

The game continued much in this fashion until an All-Star fumble on their own 35 yard line gave the Outlaws a much needed break. After an incomplete pass on the first down of the drive, Tokorozawa pounded the ball 6 consecutive plays off tackle scoring the only touchdown of the game with 2:28 remaining in the fourth quarter. with the game seemingly over at that point, the ensuing kickoff went out of bounds. On the re-kick, the all-Stars moved right up to their own 45 yard line and quickly rattled off 12 yards on the first play from scrimmage. With everyone getting a bit edgy, the Outlaws buckled down and stuff the drive with four consecutive hard hits on the All-Star running backs.

As for me, I am sore today and it was a fun game but it definitely was not one of my best games. December is a rough month to play football in and I still have two games to go. See you guys next week. Video of the game to come later this week.

Last Team Practice

Well, this will be my last practice report for 2007. The season is ending with only games and a year end party left to participate in.

The schedule is as follows for the rest of the season

12/16 Outlaws vs JPFF All-Star Team (Made up of 3 teams)
12/23 JPFF Kansai All-Star Game
12/23 Old-Timers Game at Yokohama (Old Guys vs Young Guns)

Thats about the end of it. Two games in one day on the 23rd. Luckily they are both all-star type games and I shouldnt be too tired as the first game will be 8 minute quarters.

As for this last practice, I am sore and it was a good intense practice even though there were several members of the team who had other commitments. Of course those in attendance were fully committed to performing the tasks at hand and with the 65 degree sunny weather, worked up a good sweat.

Then it was off to Yaki-niku (Korean Barbeque) for lunch and good beer and food for those in attendance. Not a bad way to close out a final practice. Now it is back to training and getting ready for these last few games.

Mid Week Post

It has been a week full of push ups and squats and other exercises designed to get me ready for the up coming games. I really need to get out and run. Especially after this last week's practice. For a change, I was throwing the ball rather than snapping it, and I found that after a dozen or so throws that I could still throw.

But my passes were anything but crisp. The timing was off on several of them and I wanted to bury my head in the sand by the mid point of practice. Although it was fun, if I really expect anything more to come of the quarterbacking skills I have, I really need to get my speed up and throw a lot more. While the steps are there, I really am glad I did not have to perform any hand offs as I probably would have tripped over my own feet.

But on to this week's practice and hopefully another beautiful day to practice on. It was 65 last week, just warm enough to work up a good sweat and nice with no wind so it was not a typical December day.

Team practice

I always loved to play football in the fall as does most other people who play the game. The days are usually cooler and one does not get as hot when practicing. Today was one such day. With a balmy 65-70 degrees and sunny, the practice could have been one of the best there was all season. But unfortunately, many members of the team didnt bother showing up.

But those of us who did show up had a fun session of mostly pass routes, and then machine gun drills which I volunteered to be the runner for all of the drills. This allowed me to get a lot of hitting in a short period of time. Of course the whole practice was like that with us running our sprints back to back. We all worked up quite the sweat and were mostly happy with the practice overall.

One more practice next week and then back to the games in back to back weeks. It will be interesting but we are now counting down to the end of season...(21 days and counting!)

On the scene

Today is a photography day for me. I am shooting two of the playoff games for the JPFF and will be out at Kawasaki stadium all day. But this is not a bad thing. Luckily I will play my last two games of the season there.

We always talk about a football field being lousy or good in the states, but here in Japan, just having one is a god send. Unfortunately, most of the places I have played over the years were no more than a field converted into a football field for the game. Many more times, we have played on Rugby grounds with field goal posts that were too close and that were actually a throw back to playing in the NFL in the 1950's and 1960's and hazardous to the players.

Kawasaki stadium wasa baseball stadium not long ago. They converted it into one of the few, quite possibly the only football stadium in the country. The astroturf is bad and does not allow the feet to slide at all. But it is a ground and it isnt a rugby pitch that is all dirt. The stadium seats about 3-5000 people and has home and away stands. All this told, it is a nice place to play for the guys playing semi-pro and college ball over here.

So I wont complain and I will go shoot the games and await my turn to play on the field. It will come soon enough.

Mid Week Post

Another week of training and waiting. Luckily I can distract myself with photographing other teams games. This does provide some relief from the end of season blues. Waiting around three weeks is not my idea of fun but then again, it is coming up on December and this is not the best weather for football but then again, look at this weeks Monday Night Football and I guess its not so bad.

And speaking of the NFL, we should take a moment to reflect this week on the senseless violence which brought about the death of Washington Redskin's safety, Sean Taylor. While he was not the shining example of a good citizen, he was making changes to his life. It is sad that the one so young and talented could be cut down so easily.

This seems to be a common theme these days and as athletes, we should always be mindful of the impression we give those around us with our deeds. Whether we are playing for a school, or a private team, we should leave the violence on the field and try to set the example for others to follow off the field.

All-star Practice Session

Today was interesting to say the least. What was supposed to be a full practice for those participating in the All star game turned into a real beat down session for me. As in I got beat down. I am not sure what it was but I was not ready in any shape or form for the practice, and it showed.

Luckily, I have several weeks before my next game and hopefully can correct my issues before that. I guess I got too lazy this week and the lack of training time showed. It is back to work tomorrow as I really need to start getting ready for next season. But am I overlooking the remaining items on my schedule? Quite possibly is the only answer I can give for the reason for my poor performance today.

But more bruises and a sore back are the signs that I had a good practice. I only know that in spite of the 60 degree temperatures, I was pouring sweat during the session as were several of my fellow all-stars.

Mid Week Report

It appears that I was a bit hasty in declaring an end to the season. Now, we not only have the all star game this Sunday but we also have another "friendly" on the 16th of December. After talking to the head of the JPFF yesterday (a former coach of mine), it sounded like things were in action to actually make a game happen. By 5pm, the mails were flying and everyone was talking about another game.

Since the bruises on my arms are clearing up slowly but surely, I guess another game is just what the doctor ordered. At least I wont be sitting around during the holidays getting too fat.

Tomorrow is what we Americans call turkey day and now that it is almost over for me, I guess we will be shooting a few more turkeys on the field. As they say, "bring it on!"

Outlaws win 23-8

Yes folks, we finally won a game. It was not a bad effort ont he part of the 16 guys who showed up to participate in the last regular game of the season. While this leaves us officially at 3-2 and in third place in our block, it would have been nice if we could have put in performances similar to today's in those losses.

But I must admit, it was the best team effort I have seen with good play calling, good blocks with few misses and even better runs. It certainly helped that we had our key players. With only a missed try for point after the first touchdown, the rest came hard earned and at the end of the day, we all were able to feel good about this season.

I have one more all-star game that I will participate in at the end of this coming week and then my season with the Outlaws will be completed. On to King County Jaguars for next season.

Mid Week Post

Well, the final game of the season is coming up. I will be gald that the season is finally over. Unfortunately, it has been an abbreviated one with the forfeits that other teams had to make this year. Unfortunately this will not change unless the league makes some efforts to promote themselves among the college students playing the game today. This however seems to be a syndrome faced by all of the leagues here now.

But for now, I am hoping to finish this season on a winning note. If we can do that, then it will have been worth the effort. The real question though is will I be ready to play again next season. (February is fast approaching.)

Mid Week Post

Well, after going no where last week, I am once again getting ready for practice. My index finger is not exactly 100% after a sprain during the 4th quarter. But I will heal and get back at it. Hopefully we can win one of these dog gone games as this losing bit is not working for me.

Only one more game left in the season and then only remaining all-star games and other fun. And then it is another season done. Only the crying and healing left to do.